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The original German page ROBBY'S SUPER-8 HOMEPAGE - King Kong [1976]
This page was created on April 22, 2007
King Kong
King Kong
Original title: King Kong
USA 1976
Actors: Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, Jessica Lange, John Randolph, Rene Auberjonois, u.a.
Director: John Guillermin
A Dino de Laurentiis Production distributed by Tobis
Super-8 Sales: marketing-film; Nr. 923, 924, 925 & 926 (4x 120m color / clay)
KING KONG (No. 923) - The Sacrifice of the Giant Ape
KING KONG (No. 924) - The Hunt for the Monster
KING KONG (No. 925) - Panic in New York
KING KONG (No. 926) - The Death of the Giant
CONTENTS:
Entrepreneur Wilson (Charles Grodin) suspects a large oil deposit on an
undiscovered island in the South Pacific that is always surrounded by wafts of
fog. Having arrived at the destination, however, the speculations of the
paleontologist Jack Prescott (Jeff Bridges) are confirmed. On the island, the
natives celebrate a strange ritual: they offer their jungle ruler, the giant
gorilla Kong, a girl for sacrifice. When the locals discover the intruders, they
kidnap Dawn (Jessica Lange in her film debut) from the ship in order to
sacrifice her, too. Jack is able to save the actress from the claws of the
colossus. But he has fallen hopelessly in love with the blonde. Wilson senses
big business. He has the gorilla captured in order to put on a spectacle with
him in New York. Arriving in town, Kong rushes to look for his beloved...
NOTES:
The tragic horror romance shines with effects that were rewarded with an
honorary Oscar. Only the much-touted mechanic-Kong turned out to be a flop.
The marvel of electronics was 13 meters high and weighed six tons. But despite
(or because of) 1500 meters of internal wiring, the hydraulic control failed.
So a man got into a costume, and things were looking good again. (Filmkritik).
The SUPER-8 Copy:
The four-part marketing film was released in 1977 and was in the program
until the end. There are both acetate and polyester copies. The present copy
is acetate. The sound of all four acts is loud and powerful. You have to keep
your hand on the volume control during the projection, because some passages
contain a lot of bass, especially in scenes in which King Kong roars. The
colors of the acetate copy are very beautiful; only the first act seems a bit
washed out. The image sharpness is good—it was copied with bars. However,
the action only begins when the team rows ashore. Once you get used to this
somewhat mangled beginning, the film immediately captivates everyone. In other
words: the remainder of the film is well-edited! Even the atmosphere comes
across, and the audience stares spellbound at the screen. Although marketing
only shows us the 'King Kong' lettering from the original titling, at the end
of the fourth act there is once again absolutely nothing! The Paramount film
was distributed in Germany by Tobis. In the USA, however, marketing-film even
published this as a complete version (No. 4304 with a running time of 135
minutes!). Highly recommended! The Trailer
is also available on Super 8 in
CinemaScope (English)!
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© Dino de Laurentiis / Paramount Pictures
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